e-Digest Statistics about: Air Quality
Concentrations of Metals
Table 25 shows trends in estimated emissions of 9 metals. Emission estimates for all these fell by at least 48 per cent between 1990 and 2006. The largest falls were for lead (96 per cent) and cadmium (84 per cent). A more detailed breakdown of heavy metal emissions can be found on the NAEI Website.
Emissions of lead from petrol-engine road vehicles fell virtually to zero in 2000 following reductions in the amount of lead in petrol in the 1980s, the increase in uptake of unleaded petrol in the 1990s, and the ban at the end of 1999 of leaded petrol for general sale.
Table 26 shows trends in annual average lead concentrations and exceedances against the Air Quality Strategy's objective at selected sites. These networks provide lead concentration measurements for a range of kerbside, urban and rural locations. Concentrations are currently measured around three industrial works in Walsall (IMI and Brookside sites) and Newcastle (Elswick sites) to monitor compliance with the EC Lead Directive 82/884 which limits annual mean airborne lead concentrations to 2.0µg/m³. This Directive was repealed from 1 January 2005, when the first Daughter Directive (99/30/EC) limit value of 0.5µg/m³ applied.
The Air Quality Strategy sets objectives for human health that by the end of 2004 the annual mean should not exceed 0.5µg/m³ and that by 2008 it should not exceed 0.25µg/m³. In 2006, none of the sites exceeded either the 2004 or the 2008 targets. Figure 15 shows trends in concentrations at urban sites (excluding industrial and kerbside sites) in comparison with the objective levels for the annual mean.
Several new sites were put into place around industrial sites to assist in the implementation of the fourth Daughter Directive (2004/107/EC), following a year long study to find those sites closest to the target values for arsenic, cadmium and nickel in that Directive. Table 27a and Table 27b show the historic and current concentrations for other trace elements monitored in the heavy metals monitoring network of multi-element monitoring sites.
Further Information:
- Data Tables:
- 25 Estimated total emissions of metals: 1970-2006 XLS
- 26 Annual average concentrations of lead (Pb) and exceedances against the Air Quality Strategy criteria at selected sites: 1980-2006 XLS
- 27a Annual average concentration of trace elements at multi-element sites: 1980-2002 XLS
- 27b Annual average concentration of trace elements at multi-element sites: 2003-2006 XLS
- Fig 15 Lead annual mean comparison with health objectives for 2004 and 2008: 1980-2005 (urban sites) XLS
- References, further reading and links to other resources:
- United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
- Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution
- Internet Links:
- UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI)
- National Air Quality Information Archive
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Page last modified: 13 March 2008
Page published: 30 March 2006